The woman called him a 'f****t' and an arsehole and asked why he was gay

2019-08-27

Words: Steve Brown

A man was subjected to horrendous homophobic abuse while on a bus after celebrating Manchester Pride.

The man was wearing a ‘Homophobic Abuse is Criminal’ t-shirt and was talking to people about how he put a red bow on a policeman in order to raise awareness of HIV, according to eyewitness Karina Townsley.

However, a woman sat behind him started hurling homophobic abuse towards him and called him a ‘f****t’ and an ‘arsehole’.

Karina – who was travelling with her daughter - told the Manchester Evening News: “It was a dead good atmosphere but the woman started abusing him.

“She asked why he was gay, asking if he had been sexually abused. He was trying to ignore the abuse. Everyone was disgusted.

“My daughter was shaking. She isn’t used to conflict.

“I was really shocked at first. I thought, ‘Am I hearing this right?’ I am bisexual myself and have got lots of gay friends, and to hear things like that is disgusting.

“I thought the most shocking thing was that he was just sitting there taking it. It like was he was used to it.”

In footage taken by Karina, the bus driver starts telling at the woman to keep her voice down and mind her language.

The victim manages to keep calm and simply responds to the abusive woman: “You have the freedom to be who you want to be.